Coming Soon: The Three-Parent Baby?
Coming soon: The three-parent baby? Britain could become the first country in the world to allow the creation of IVF babies with DNA from three parents.
Lawmakers in parliament are set to vote on mitochondrial DNA donation techniques aimed at preventing serious inherited diseases. Mitochondrial DNA or mDNA is passed on through the mother. Under the proposed change to the laws on in-vitro fertilization as well as receiving normal “nuclear” DNA from its mother and father, the embryo would also include a small amount of healthy mDNA from a female donor.
At the end of the debate, members of parliament will have a free vote on the issue, meaning they can vote according to their conscience and are not forced to vote along party lines.
“Families who know what it is like to care for a child with a devastating disease are best placed to decide whether mitochondrial donation is the right option for them,” said Jeremy Farrar, director of health charity Wellcome Trust.
The change could apply to up to 2,500 women of reproductive age in Britain with hereditary mitochondrial diseases but opponents say it opens the way to the possibility of “designer babies” in future.
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